Community Deployment Overview

Modified on Wed, 24 Jan at 5:14 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to Cloud Retailer!
Schedule of Events
References

Welcome to Cloud Retailer!

This page has (almost) everything you need to know for our deployment process. You will be referencing this page a lot - so be sure and bookmark it!

The goal is to keep things moving fast to get you live, so review the schedule, information, and links carefully as there are things we will need from you to keep things on track.

Schedule of Events

Use the arrow buttons on the calendar below to see the available training dates. Clicking the event will give you access to more information and the Google Meet link that we use for training! ⚠ Note that times listed are in Central Time (CST).

Please arrive 5-10 minutes early as the event will begin at the precise starting time. No worries - there's always another session next week! While the Google Meet will let you join at any time, if there are NO attendees 10 minutes after the event is scheduled to start, the session will be closed. If you clicked the Google Meet link and are unable to join, please contact our support at 320-230-2282 before the scheduled session begins.

Groundwork

The first step in your Cloud Retailer migration is laying the groundwork for your deployment. You must have all of your hardware ready and at the store, including Credit Card Terminals. Whether you sourced your own hardware or purchased hardware from RITE, our Tech Team will investigate your setup, and work with you to select and install Cloud Retailer on the best fit for training purposes.

If you purchased your new hardware from us, the video links below will guide you through connecting all purchased hardware.

Watch our video on setting up your new POS Ready Dell computer

Watch our video on setting up your new Inspire C14 All-in-one computer

Once the groundwork has been completed, you may begin exploring the training environment we've provided. You'll want to be prepared - read more here: Community Deployment Survival Gear Checklist

The link to schedule Groundwork, along with your training instance, username, and password credentials can be found in the email you will have received: "Cloud Retailer Deployment Package - [STORE NAME]".

Here's what you'll want to have ready to be prepared for Groundwork:

A bottle of Fireball to test scanners.
- A 200ml is set up inside the training system and is the perfect product to have handy for scanning on the training POS.
Internet access on all of your POS stations - so we can access it remotely
Make sure your IT guy/gal is available if we need them. Usually not needed but just in case!
- More important with city municipal liquor stores / places with strict security rules or firewall settings.
- Some
Access to one POS station for training and testing
- This means a computer you already have or space for one of your new computers

Remote Access and Data Import

Our Customer Success Leader (CSL) Team will be reaching out in the meantime to get remote access on the POS lane to use for Groundwork, as well as establish remote access on your database (if applicable, for select customers who are having data imported).

⚠ Important: You will need to be able to log into these computers as a Windows Administrator User to enable us to install the access tool and import tools, so make sure you have your password. You will not need to share the password, but you will need it to log in as admin and allow us access.

When applicable for select customers, our Tech Team will use this remote access to begin your data import. Please establish with the CSL you speak with if we are able to remote in anytime (dedicated servers) or if our Tech Team needs to call first during business hours (combo POS lane / database server).

Once import has begun, do not change any unique product identifiers in your current POS system, such as UPCs. Read more about Import best practices, and what is safe and what is not safe to change, in these articles:

Database Conversion Considerations

Microsoft Dynamics RMS to CR Database Import Q&A

Training

We have 2 main training sessions we ask you to attend: POS Basics and Back Office. These 2 trainings are cycled on a weekly basis with options in the morning and afternoon: one week, the POS Basics Training is offered in the AM, and the Back Office in the PM. The next week, it's vice-versa.

This way, if you prefer to train in the AM, this gives you the opportunity to attend both morning options in the course of two weeks. You also could choose to attend both in one day if you wish.

We use Google Meet for our trainings, which can be accessed from a web browser with no special download required. You can click on the training events in the calendar above to see the Google Meet link you will click on to attend under "More Details".

POS Training Session Topics

Cloud Retailer point of sale
Creating and managing products
Label printing
End-of-day closing procedures
Reporting basics and review common reports

Back Office Training Session Topics

Product change worksheets
Advanced report filtering & memorized reports
Store configuration settings
Creating and managing system users
Creating and editing task pad buttons
Creating and updating purchase orders & store transfers
Performing an inventory count
Custom and product discounts

Open Office Q & A Session

At this point, you've used Cloud Retailer - but we're sure you have questions! We invite you to our "Open Office" session where you can ask specific questions regarding Cloud Retailer. Like the training, this will be a Google Meet and is open to the Community Deployments.

A bit about your Cloud Retailer Database...

In Cloud Retailer, your database is online "on the cloud". We often refer to this as your "back office instance" and it is where you perform the back office functions - things like adding products, changing prices, adding users, etc. This back office instance is a website you can access on a browser with any internet connected computer.

The POS, however, is an actual program that we install on your register. This POS program is what you use to ring up customers, and it accesses or "points" to your database online, pulling information from your back office instance like products, prices, etc. When you make sales, that information gets updated / pushed to your instance. This pulling and pushing of information is referred to as "syncing".

It might help to think of this a little bit like your camera on your smartphone: You probably have your phone set up to upload pictures you take to your Google or Apple account "on the cloud", so that when you want to look at those pictures from something other than your phone, or even switch to a new phone, you can. The phone "syncs" with your account, and uploads new pictures you've taken to your account on the cloud. If you get a new phone and enter the same account, the phone syncs with your account and downloads those pictures to your new phone. If you give your old phone to a friend who switches the account the old phone is linked to, however, then it will sync pictures from their account to the phone.

So when you first start in this deployment process, we give you access to a Training Instance that you share with other people who are also starting in Cloud Retailer. This Training Instance is just a generic database of products for training purposes, and is not based off of your actual data. Any changes you make here will not affect your real data. While you are training, we set your POS to be pointing to / syncing with this Training Instance.

When can I access my data?

After you've trained, we will be providing you a different instance website to access, along with a new username and password. This is your live back office instance.

⚠ Keep in mind- at this stage, it is not yet connected to your POS on your computer. Your POS will still be syncing with the training instance.

What happens if there is an issue with my imported data?

If you encounter a data issue, you should thoroughly document what the problem is, the affected product, etc., and what the correct value(s) should be. You can record minor issues using this form link. Minor issues should not stop you from making transactions - we ask you to persist through minor issues and document them for us to fix.

If there is a major issue with your data that stops you from testing further and from going fully live, we will work with you to help address the issue. We may provide you with a System Review Checklist to work on independently. This checklist is a shared document online, meaning both you and RITE can access it. This allows you to test and record your issues so we can fix them and submit them back to you to test again as quickly as possible.

Testing Live Sales for the first time

On Testing Day, before you begin taking real sales in Cloud Retailer, our tech team will change what your POS program points to: we will change it to point to your actual instance so it syncs with your real data. In some cases, a data refresh before testing day may be necessary to import over any product or price changes and data corrections (when applicable, for some customers).

On Testing Day we will go over our System Review Checklist with you. Our System Review Checklist helps us verify your data is correct. We will then have you begin taking real sales in Cloud Retailer for at least 4 hours.

At this point, when you have validated your data is correct, we ask that you complete the System Review Signoff before we can complete switching over your remaining registers.

Final Import

We strongly encourage you to go fully live as soon as you can after Testing Day. After you complete the System Review Signoff and go fully live, we will then complete your Final Import.

Final Import is when we do a data true up (when applicable) for anyone who took sales both in their old POS and Cloud Retailer. This brings in your new sales transactions from your old POS to Cloud Retailer from testing day forward to get Cloud Retailer current.

What if I have questions outside of training?

You will be receiving an email from our ticketing system called "Cloud Retailer Deployment Package - [STORE NAME]". This ticket represents the ongoing work of your Cloud Retailer Project, and you can add a note to that ticket by replying to the email or better yet, using our support portal to view your Cloud Retailer ticket and ask any questions. Our team monitors this ticket for emails and notes, and will get back to you.

I'm live in Cloud Retailer - but I still have questions!

We have extensive resources for you to get help! Check out this article for how to get support.

You can also join any of our trainings again, which repeat on a weekly basis, as well as come to another of our Open Office Q&A sessions!